So I bought a few house plants. I know nothing about plants - NOTHING. The little card thingy that is stuck in the soil that comes with plants said that both kinds should be fertilized every second month.

Do I actually need to fertilize them? If they look healthy can I just skip this? If not, what should I use? Is there something vegan/organic that I can use? I realize I'm not eating the house plants, so organic might not be that big of a worry, but I don't like using chemicals when I don't have to. Also, if it matters, I used a potting soil to transplant them into nice pots.

Sorry if these are dumb questions, but I really don't know ANYTHING about growing plants.

_________________I like my bagels like I like my men - big and covered with earth balance & nooch. - Bunniee

I use pee for my outside veggie garden. It needs to be very dilute or it will burn plants - usually at least 10 parts water to 1 part pee. But I would think even if you let houseplants air outside for awhile, they would still smell like a urinal when you bring them back in! You can easily find complete veganic fertilizers online, and perhaps at some of your local garden centers too; they are becoming more available. But if you want to buy a liquid non-organic fertilizer for houseplants, you'll use so little I wouldn't worry about the environmental impact

My houseplants are all very mature, so they're lucky if I fertilize once/year. But for young plants, or ones that you want to flower, every other month sounds right.

_________________Formerly Kaleicious. I still love kale, but no more than lots of other garden greens too! Orach is currently my favorite.

I use pee on my plants too! I thought this was my dirty little secret, so I'm glad to hear other people are doing it. I save grey water from the shower to water my (outdoor) plants, and usually add a little yellow water too as free fertilizer.

Thanks for the helpful info! I had no idea pee was such a good fertilizer!

I have a cat palm, a parlor palm, some other kind of palm that has pricklies on it (I'm a bad plant owner, I forget what it's called), and what I think is a succulent. It's my first time owning plants!

_________________I like my bagels like I like my men - big and covered with earth balance & nooch. - Bunniee

Urine is high in nitrogen, so it will be especially helpful for leafy greens. It's also sterile, and if you're diluting it enough, you won't smell it on your plants.

You can easily make your own compost from garden and kitchen scraps. There are countertop worm bins and under-the-sink compost systems you can buy, too, if you don't have room for an outdoor composting setup. Urine works great in the compost pile.

Avoid the typical fertilizers, which are petroleum based and deplete the soil microorganisms.

You'll have to give your plants some form of nutrients. They need something to live off, not just water. Like us, they can survive a while on water alone, but without food, they will die. And, like us, a healthy dose of the proper microbial-fungal balance leads to long-term health.

That's why composting works so well. It's not just nutrients. It's also bugs, worms, and all kinds of microorganisms we hardly understand.

And another tip: most houseplants die from overwatering. Your succulent probably won't need much watering at all. Many succulents prefer long periods of drought, followed by a thorough drenching, just like they'd get in the desert.

_________________Alina NiemiAuthor of The New Scoop: Recipes for Dairy-Free, Vegan Ice Cream in Unusual Flavors (Plus Some Old Favorites),Lizard Lunch and Other Funny Animal Poems for Kids, and The Hawaii Doodle Bookhttp://alinaspencil.com

I dunno, I even manage to kill things like cactus that are meant to survive anything.

I did once consider peeing on a neighbours plants because I was drunk and desperate for a wee. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I managed to contain myself until I got back into my house though.

I fertilize my house plants like once every two years...if I remember even then. Usually I fertilize if theyre looking a bit yellow, which I think means the soil is getting low in nitrogen. There's a liquid concentrate you can buy that has nitrogen, etc. I bought a huge bottle pregan, so I'm not sure it's vegan but I suspect it is. Usually I just repot my plants every few years using fresh potting soil rather than fertilize because they've grown enough to get rootbound and need a bigger container anyways.